The Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, has said Nigeria’s petrol subsidy bill could have risen to about ₦53 trillion, while the exchange rate could have weakened to ₦3,500 to the dollar, if President Bola Tinubu had not implemented his economic reforms.
Adedeji made the claim during an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he defended the Tinubu administration’s decision to remove petrol subsidy and reform the foreign exchange regime.
The NRS chairman described the removal of subsidy as one of the most significant economic decisions taken by the administration, arguing that it had contributed to what he described as positive economic outcomes.
“All the good results that I will reel out soon come as a result of that courageous decision (subsidy removal). So, it is not a mistake; it is the best thing that has happened to this country. Subsidy was evil and had been with Nigeria for decades,” he said.
Adedeji said Tinubu inherited an economy burdened by an unsustainable subsidy regime, an underperforming oil sector and a narrow tax base.
